As a new mom of a 3 month old, it is nice to have a few outings during the week. Taking a mom and baby class, visiting friends and going for a walk are all things to which I look forward. Grocery shopping on the other hand, is something that I generally welcome any excuse to avoid. I have even found myself eating KD and tuna for dinner because my fridge is bare and I have no desire to fill it. There are a few things about grocery shopping that can make it a not-so-enjoyable task with a little one by your side. The new Sobeys in Sage Creek is attempting to make this experience a little easier for moms by addressing a few of these difficulties.

#1. Every shopping cart is built differently which means the way the car seat rests in the cart is different. When I bring my sleeping child from the car into a store and struggle to find the right angle to hook the seat in, meanwhile jostling baby around and consequentially waking baby up….I am not a happy mommy. Not to mention the fact that it is not even recommended to rest the car seat on the cart for safety reasons.

Sobeys has eliminated this problem with car seat Safe Docks, making it safe and easy to attach the car seat to the cart while you shop.

They also have fun grocery carts for kids who are a little older who can pretend that they are steering the cart in play cars.

#2. Generally when I leave the house it involves a mad rush to feed baby, pack the diaper bag, dress the baby, get her in the car seat, double check that I have at least somewhat acceptable clothing on and run out the door all before there is a meltdown (either by baby or myself). This list does not usually include feeding myself. When the task at hand is grocery shopping, this leaves me feeling lightheaded and slightly nauseous as I try to get in and out as quickly as possible. It also means that I often make less healthy food choices (which is why it is advised never to shop with an empty stomach.)

Now, thanks to Sobeys, I can pick up a ready to eat lunch from the Sobeys Kitchen which includes tons of healthy and delicious options including vegetable fried rice, roasted rutabaga, sesame orange chicken, vegetable noodle dishes and tons more. I can shop with a full stomach and feel good about the food choices that I am making.

#3. I have posted here before about my beautiful Menu Board that I created a couple of years ago to help with weekly meal planning. I have to admit that since having a baby I haven’t touched this board once. This is in part because we have mostly been eating meals brought to us by friends and families as well as our pre-prepared freezer meals (so amazing!), but also because I don’t have the brain power to think far enough into the future about what we should eat and what ingredients I would have to buy to make those meals.

In comes Sobeys with the Better Food News section of their website that highlights the best deals of the week and gives you recipe ideas for easier meal planning.They also have a new phone app where you can find new recipes, better deals and create a shopping list that you will never forget because it’s right on your phone!

With aisles of beautiful, fresh produce and Certified Humane meat choices it’s easy to create lots of meals high in protein and vitamins like iron and calcium for a breastfeeding mom. A handsome Jamie Oliver promoting ‘Better Food for All’ doesn’t hurt either.

Kath’s quote:  “A baby will make love stronger, days shorter, nights longer, bank balance smaller, home happier, clothes dirty, the past forgotten and the future worth living for.” -Unknown

Love-that is all.

I was once instructed that the healthiest way to shop at a grocery store, is to purchase and consume as many products as possible that are placed at the periphery of the building.  This statement appropriately describes the newly built Sobey’s store that I visited this morning.  Their fresh market and bakery are at one edge of the store and I understand that Sage Creek is the first Sobey’s in Canada to do this.

I absolutely loved strolling through the fresh market.  It reminded me of our local farmer’s market or the outdoor markets that I love to explore in Europe.

The fruit and vegetable displays are gorgeous and beautifully showcase the bounty of fresh produce at this time of year.

I came across a little stand that was offering tastes of three different kinds of Gouda cheese.  My favourite was the smoked Gouda.  I have only tasted it once previously and it was an excellent reminder to purchase it again for holiday entertaining.

Speaking of cheese, Bothwell cheese is made right here in Manitoba and Sobey’s proudly supports as many local suppliers as possible.  Sobey’s has a special cooler placed at the end of a row, chock full of all the Bothwell varieties.  Bothwell’s Black Truffle cheese is my favourite-what is yours?  I also saw Pioneer Farmer Sausage and Winnipeg Old County deli meats on display.  My Dad would have been so happy, he used to go directly to Winnipeg Old Country in the north end to pick up our fresh meat every Saturday morning.

I had a very difficult time walking through the bakery section without making too many purchases.  In spite of my temptation to pick up one of their exquisitely designed fruit flans, I opted instead for a loaf of artisan bread.

I decided to tear off a chunk of the Cranberry Pumpkin Seed Bread on the way home.  The traffic was slower that I had anticipated, so I tore off another, and then another….  Suffice it to say, I can highly recommend this particular artisan loaf.  They are all baked in store throughout the day using naturally fermented ingredients and no preservatives.

There is a huge section of the store dubbed the “Natural Source” section.  The shelves were full of all those ingredients that you typically find at a health food store.  I was blown away by the number of quinoa based foods that were contained here as well as gluten free products.

In addition, there were mini sections on almost every aisle which bowed out from the flat shelves and were marked: “Better food means better ingredients”.  These special shelves contained items that I would usually have to travel to a specialty store to purchase; brands like Garafalo pasta and Ghiradelli chocolate.  I was super impressed with their extensive ethnic sections: Italian, Asian and Mexican.  We love to dine out at ethnic restaurants but even more, we love to travel to foreign places.  With Sobey’s extensive line of ingredients, we can cook at home and save up for our next travel adventure.

Although I could not linger and order lunch to sit down with, there were many other shoppers taking advantage of this opportunity at the little cafe there.  I had my eye on the chicken stone oven pizza, so next time, I will plan accordingly.

I have always preferred Shopping at Sobey’s, from the moment that I get out of the car in their spacious parking lots, not having to fish for a coin for a cart, having more than enough cashiers open and staffed and not having to bag my own groceries!

In addition, I spied that there was a spacious customer service counter that was not being used as an overflow check out.  There were two family style washrooms and even special motorized carts for persons with disabilities.  I have concluded that when Sobey’s claims that their goal is “Better food for all”, they don’t just mean that they offer fresher, purer food, it means that they are doing everything possible to make access to that food easier and affordable to every walk of life.

Kath’s quote:

Love-that is all.